A new life; same as the old life?

It is hard to believe the summer is almost at an end again, where has the year gone? In about two weeks, the official end of summer in the US, Labor Day will occur, and everything that is "seasonal" will cease, irrespective of the weather. Pools will close, mini golf will close, some golf courses will close, the outdoor concert season will be over and fall will be official. I have actually started to detect leaves changing and dropping already. My regulars will know that we have been frequent visitors to Ravinia last year and this, with our latest trip taking in the great BB King and a "support" act of Mavis Staples , who apparently comes from a long line of Staples family blues singers, but I honestly had never heard of her. BB King is 80 years old this year, and coincidentally so is Tony Bennett who we will be seeing in September; what a year 1926! I haven't been to a Blues concert in a while, and I certainly had not seen people of this age and magnitude befor...

Much as I respect Bill Gates for all that he has achieved in life, irrespective of what anyone thinks of his products and business model, I admire him. He and his products are largely what pay my way in this world. That doesn't mean that I can't find this little clip from Letterman very funny. Enjoy!

Very few countries can trace roots in time stretching back before history was even recorded. The Indian Sub-Continent shows traces of human activity as far back as 400,000BC according to this website . Archaeologists have found implements in several areas which reinforce this. In it's relatively recent history (since the mid 1700s), India was "ruled" by many countries, most notably the British. In common with the United States and many other countries in the world which were formally part of "The Empire" they wanted to be independent. I have done some research on the subject and it would seem that in India this movement started in 1857, and eventually was officially successful on 15th August, 1947. This site does a good job of summarising the events, leading up to Independence, and this site gives a lot of detail around the initial 1857 mutiny. I wont go into a lot of detail here, as there are many websites that can tell it much better than I, but the momentum...

For the first time yesterday, I witnessed first hand the Cubs losing. I know people who know baseball won't be surprised by that, as they lose quite a lot, but in the 15-20 games I have attended, they have never lost. This game was away from home at Miller Park, so I can still say that I have never seen them lose at home, and maintain my case for the club sponsoring my season ticket, if they want to get to the World Series! They started out badly, and were 6-1 down before long. I missed the start of the game due to traffic and roadworks, and when I heard Prior was pitching for the Cubs, I had a feeling of dread, with his dismal record this year 1-8 and his even worse record of never recording a win at Miller Park in over 3 years! We pulled Prior in the 4th I believe, but the damage was done and it was an uphill struggle, although we did get back to 8-6 by the end of the 8th. We started the 9th well and had base runners on 1st and 2nd, 1 out and Jaque Jones at the plate with almost ...

One of the events that we really hoped to get to this year, as I believe it only comes every three years or so, was the Tall Ships Festival. The weekend started well enough, with a round of golf with a work colleague, and a few beers (6 or 7 each). We had a Cubs game planned for the Saturday, but figured, worst case, that we would get home by Midnight, and still make it back into the city the next day. Well the best laid plans, and all that... We got pretty "well oiled" during the game, particularly as the Cubs were playing very well, despite Prior's performance. He actually pitched well to ultimately gain his first win, but they allowed to stay an innings too long, allowing 4 back to back walks before they pulled him. He has a long way to go to recover his previous form. We left in the top of the 9th to beat the crowds to Murphys Bleachers bar, and continued our fun there. Bob had a hankering for heading downtown though and so around 8ish I guess we took cabs down to Na...

People who know me well, or have been to my house or office will know that I am a big fan of all thing nautical, and lighthouses in particular. I am not sure how this interest came about, as I have always been very nervous of my lack of swimming ability, and as a result not very confident in the water. When I was a kid growing up in Kilmarnock, we used to have a swimming baths in the town. The deep end of these baths was 9ft. My father was a great swimmer, one of the few things I admire in him, and one time when I was very young (like 3 or 4 years old), he ran along the side of this pool and dove in the 9ft end. Being young and impressionable, I thought "What a good wheeze" and followed. Needless to say, that didn't end well! I guess I developed a fear at that point and never really learned to swim properly or enthusiastically, one of my greatest regrets. I can swim a little bit and could probably get by in an emergency, but I have never been confident enough to dive in a...

Most of our friends will know that Lorraine has been learning to play golf for the last year or so, mostly in the time we have been here in the US, with me giving hints and tips. She struggled through most of last year, taking some lessons, and having occasional good shots, but getting frustrated by the lack of consistency as all amateur golfers do; Eh Charlie! (Charlie has seen my frustration first hand) Towards the end of last year, her consistency started to come together, and she seemed to hit on a formula for improving her ball striking, until she went back for a lesson and her teacher told her not to do it. This year, neither of us have spent much time on the course, and when we have, we have both struggled to play well. Last night, I was supposed to play with a work colleague who couldn't make at the last minute and so, being faced with paying anyway, Lorraine changed her plans and filled in. I continued my previous poor performance, with some reasonable iron play, terrible ...

In Illinois there is a car insurer called Geico, who's chief advertising icon is a Gecko with a London accent (not really sure if it is East or South London, as was never really good a telling the difference, but I guess one of my readers might know). Their slogan is "I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance" They have used many commercials in the year or so I have been here, the Tony Little and Cavemen ones are excellent, but the ones featuring the Gecko have definitely been my favourites, particularly this one, for free pie and chips , quintessentially English! Their list changes I think on the web site, so if the link above doesn't work, their video clip list is here , which also has a bunch of other video clips, all pretty funny. The Cavemen are in a series of three, no longer available on the Geico website, but worth also checking out here; one and three . I couldn't find a link to the 2nd one.

What do you mean, who is he? The surname should be your chief clue. The Illinois-born civil engineer gave the world the Ferris Wheel, and got next to nothing for one of the most recognisable inventions in human history. His inspiration reputedly came from a large water wheel near his family ranch where he grew up in Nevada. Born in 1859, he left home in 1875, for military college, later studying engineering in NYC, graduating in 1880. Starting his career building bridges, tunnels, etc, he foresaw an increase in the use of structural steel, and founded his own civil engineering firm in Pittsburgh to take advantage of this, eventually opening offices in both NYC and Chicago. In 1891 he was invited to attend an engineers' banquet in Chicago, the city just selected to host the World's Columbian Exposition - the Chicago world's fair of 1893. Daniel H. Burnham, director of works for the fair, challenged the engineers to produce a structure of some sort rivaling the Eiffel Tower, ...

Having had several days of wicked heat, we had a fabulous storm last night, which passed pretty much overhead where we live. I know not everyone likes them, but I grew to love them many years ago when I lived in South Africa, and the weather was, at least from my young recollections, the same or hotter than here. We switched off all the lights and went upstairs to watch. The trees were blown around and you could see some huge strikes of lightning not very far from us. Apparently, where we used to live in Mundelein was one of the hardest hit areas. Many people are without power as a result this morning. This Chicago Tribune report goes into more detail. The reason for this post is more to learn about the storms though, as I find them fascinating, and I was chatting to a guy over lunch last week who shared some additional facts, so I thought I would go find out some more. Basically, lightning is believed to be formed in Cumulonimbus clouds when strong air currents cause water and ice pa...

This weekend has seen many places in the US issuing excessive heat warnings. The Chicago area is posting temperatures in the high 90s and low triple digits; with a heat index (how hot it feels due to humidity) of up to 110. Last couple of nights it has been in the mid to high 80s at 10pm! We went to see Tom Jones last night at Ravinia. He was excellent, but it was like sitting in a sauna for the evening. On Saturday we took my Mother In Law and Aunt In law on an open top bus tour of the city, more on that to follow, we found out some way cool things about the city, as you always do on these things. This is one of the pieces of text that comes with a heat warning. They also have emergency lines set up specifically for heat related issues! PEOPLE WORKING OUTDOORS SHOULD TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS IN AN AIRCONDITIONED BUILDING OR VEHICLE. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS, PREFERABLY WATER, NATURAL FRUIT JUICES OR SPORTS DRINKS. AVOID CAFFEINATED OR ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AS THESE TYPES OF DRINKS TEND TO DEH...

I am sure there are many reasons that people will proffer for Chicago's name of 2nd City. I guess the most logical is that, at one time it, literally was the 2nd largest after NYC, although this mantle, of course now held by the City Of Angels, Los Angeles. A semi official reason is given on Wikipedia as that which is 2nd most important. In the event of the capital city being compromised, it would take over as the capital city due to some economic and/or commercial role it could fulfill. Motherdear commented on this post , that she had recently seen the movie "The Break Up" and indicated that they had given a reason for the name, alluding I believe to the Chicago Fire in 1871. Where the belief is that the city was named the 2nd city due to the massive rebuild it underwent following the destruction caused by the fire. I kinda like this explanation best, as it is a title that no other city can take away from Chicago. Does anyone know of any other reasons, or care to commen...

It means literally To Your Health or Good Health, ie cheers. As above it is usally pronouced Slancha Va, although without ever having spoken Gaelic, I have no idea if that is accurate. This website indicates otherwise. This website will help all you seasoned travellers to keep your "cheers" straight. Interestingly, some languages use the same word when you sneeze and say cheers, for example Gesondheid! in Afrikaans. I guess both kind of mean "Good Health To You", which is the original reason for saying Bless You of course, from the days of the plague in London.

Try not to get blinded by the sun glinting off my head BTW. You may wonder what I am doing dumpster diving, in this fortunately fairly empty dumpster, on our recent weekend trip to the Indianapolis Grand Prix, well it's a long story. We set off for our trip on Saturday, making good time with the exception of the roadworks on the Indiana Tollway. We arrived in Lafayette around 3pm, checked in, watched the end of the Cubs game, damn you Pierzynski, and then took off to do some shopping. We got some great bargains in the Old Navy and Eddie Bauer sales, had a snackette at some pizza joint, and then decided to head to Target to get some dessert before settling in for the night in front of the telly in preparation for an early start the next morning. At 1:30am or thereabouts, I was paged for an outage at work. As I was on the call, I noticed that my wedding ring was not on my finger. Whilst on the call, trying not wake Lorraine, and trying to consult on the outage, I frantically racked m...

Canada Day, originally named Dominion Day, celebrates the formation of the Dominion Of Canada. The first actual holiday celebration took place on June 20th 1868, but was later moved to July 1st in 1879. It was renamed to Canada Day as late as 1982. There is little record of formal celebrations between the creation of the holiday until 1958, when it became an annual holiday. Until that time, there had been some celebrations in 1917 and 1927, for the anniversaries of the confederation. Through the 60s & 70s it was celebrated annually with a trooping of the colour, concerts, fireworks, and the usual activities you would associate with Independence Day in the US. I won't write about that again this year, as I wrote in depth last year . Latterly it is left to local towns and cities to organise events with support and funding from the government. Happy Birthday Canada!

Lorraine and I recently returned to the venue where we got married. Some friends of ours who had actually recommended the place to us, were getting married there too. Although, somewhat more sensibly, they chose to do it in June, much warmer! They were able to use the outdoor facilities (stop sniggering Steve!) and were married in the gazebo in the garden. It was a great day and everyone had a good time. In a lot of ways it kinda felt like a rerun for us , which we kinda expected, being as it was the same venue and organiser. They had the same minister, used the same room, same bar, and even had the same barstaff! Star was gracious enough to insist that we actually wear our wedding outfits for the occasion too, which was great, because, as regular readers know, most of my outfit didn't even show up in time for our wedding! He is how we should have looked, but for the international mail issues. Steve showed himself to be every bit the food monster in a repeat performance of his crab...

Since I have lived here in the US and to a lesser degree when I was dealing with my US friends remotely, I have said things that confuse, befuddle and oft amuse them. They often stop mid sentence having heard something and ask for an explanation of the phrase, word, context, etc. So for some time, I have been planning a posting with respect to explaining some of these words/phrases. However I recently found this website , and thought why reinvent the wheel. It is by no means comprehensive, but it covers many of the commonly used terms. I challenge my corporate colleagues to take a chance to peruse this list and try to find some examples they can use in a business context. Caution - Some of the words are regarded as "profanity" by the corporate filter, so you might want to read it from home.

A very good and long standing friend of mine, Marcus, recently came to town for a fleeting visit on his way back from a business trip to Dallas. The very bizarre thing is that he will be here in Chicago this week for the same client, but due to his schedule, we will not be able to get together. How screwed up is that! We have been friends since we met in Bristol, England (for the Americans - not Rhode Island or Tennessee), many years ago. I think probably about 10 years, if my math is right. We shared a flat for a while and became firm friends. I am mentor to his son Max (Godfather if you are religious). We have been through many experiences together, and hopefully he didn't share too many secrets with Lorraine when they were alone together on Wednesday morning, whilst I was at work! As you can see from the above picture, with Lorraine and Marcus paddling in Lake Michigan on Wednesday afternoon, the weather was gorgeous, or at least it started that way. This picture shows the build...

We have been living here about 6 weeks now, and I have recently learned some facts about our new home town. It was established in 1830 by an Englishman called George Vardin. Originally known as Vardin's Grove until Independence Day 1836, when it was renamed Independence Grove; there is a local forest preserve named after it today. Also in 1836, mail service from Chicago to Milwaukee was being established and local residents wanted to get in on the act, petitioning for a post office. However due to another post office in the state called Independence Grove, the town was renamed Libertyville in 1837. When Lake County was created, Libertyville became the county seat, and for some reason was renamed again to Burlington, and this name remained until it lost county seat status in 1841 to Waukegan (then Little Fort), whereupon the village reclaimed the name Libertyville. In the 1880s the village started to expand rapidly thanks to the new railroad and was incorporated later in 1882. The ...

Every time we have visitors, we end up in the city and inevitably gravitate towards the John Hancock Tower. Apart from the Cheesecake Factory and The Signature Lounge, I personally think it has the best views of the city. Sod the Sears Tower, it's too far inland, and you can't get cocktails with your views. On the way to the Hancock tower, it is almost impossible and certainly undesirable to miss the Water Tower and Pumping Station. I always spout my little spiel about the facilities being built to resolve some water pollution problems due to the Chicago meat markets, in the mid 1800s. (as learned from the Lonely Planet guide many years ago). I also repeat my little knowledge about it being one of, if not the oldest buildings in Chicago, having survived the great fire in the late 1800s. However I can never remember if it is still in use, and so this week when Marcus left, I decided to do a little research. When Chicago was being established in the early 1800s, water was initia...